House Bill 2324 creates new crimes concerning minors and electronic cigarettes. It is unlawful to sell, furnish, or distribute electronic cigarettes to any person under 18 years of age and to sell electronic cigarettes by means of a vending machine. It also requires a retail dealer to add “electronic cigarettes” to the sign explaining cigarettes and tobacco products cannot be sold to minors. It is unlawful for any person under 18 to purchase, attempt to purchase, possess, or attempt to possess electronic cigarettes.

But are those penalties enough to make stores vigilant about checking ID’s?

Going Undercover | Setting up the sting

Regina, Mikey, and Amber went undercover for KSN’s story. (KSN Photo)

KSN recruited two WSU students, Regina and Mikey, to pose as customers, plus a KSN producer, Amber. All three are old enough to legally buy e-cigarettes. They wouldn’t be breaking the law, but it might be difficult for store clerks to guess their age.

Some Wichitans we asked couldn’t. Two men guessed that Regina was 16 or 13, when she is actually 19.

One woman thought Mikey could be 16 years old, but another woman guessed correctly at 19.

People thought Amber, who is the oldest of the three at 22, was anywhere from 14 to 21 years old.

Going Undercover | Specialty e-Cig stores

Next, we put e-cigarette stores to the test. We gave our volunteers a hidden camera, and they tried to buy without an ID.

Map of E-Cig stores

“I just need a cartridge,” Mikey said to the clerk at the first store. Minutes later, he left with an e-cigarette refill in hand.

When KSN confronted the clerk about why he didn’t card Mikey, he looked surprised.

“No, I thought I checked,” said the clerk, who later revealed he’s the owner of the store. “I do, I usually always do. I can’t believe I did that.”

Another store owner let the kids sample a popular flavor of e-juice called Marilyn Monroe, but then he refused to sell it to them without an ID. When KSN asked him why, he said, “They just grabbed it on their own. I didn’t know.”

In all, KSN visited 10 e-cigarette stores in Wichita. The majority of them, seven, refused to sell to our undercover customers without seeing an ID.

E-Cig Store

Sell without ID?

Address

316 Vapes

Yes

21st & Rock

Big E’s Vapor Shop East

No

946 S. Rock Road

E Cigs Plus

No

901 S. Seneca

E-Cigs Etc.

Yes

707 N. Mt. Carmel

Elements

No

515 S. Woodlawn

Lucky’s Vape & Smoke

No, did give sample

4100 E. Harry

Lucky’s Vape Lounge

No

575 W. Douglas

Puffs

No

3700 E. Douglas

Vapor E-Cigarettes

No

3137 W. Maple

Vapor Trail E Cigs

Yes

3570 N. Woodlawn

Going Undercover | Convenience stores

It was a very different story at convenience stores.

We stopped at 15 of them all across Wichita, and nine sold e-cig products without seeing an ID. Several clerks didn’t even ask.

One clerk told KSN he wasn’t aware of the ban on underage sales.

“I didn’t know you had to be 18 to buy the juice,” the clerk said.

Map of Convenience Stores

We even caught clerks at the most common convenience store in Wichita, QuikTrip—not once or twice, but at three different locations.

Each time, the clerks said they could tell by looking that the undercover customer, Amber, was old enough.

“It’s not really that hard for me, “ said one clerk. “I can always tell. I don’t have psychic powers or anything

But when asked if QuikTrip allows him to make such a judgment call, he said, “No, I just assumed for myself, and I know I shouldn’t have done that.”

That’s exactly what QuikTrip’s spokesperson, Mike Thornbrugh, told KSN. “Well, I mean obviously we’re disappointed because we take responsible retailing very seriously, and what your investigation shows, quite frankly, is that we have some work to do, even though we did not break the law, we did not do our policy, which is to ID anybody who appears to be under the age of 40.”

Convenience Store

Sell without ID?

Address

1 Stop / Phillips 66

No

802 N West

Casey’s General Store

No

3540 S. Meridian

Family Mart

Yes

Harry & Meridian

Flying Eagle

No

277 S Ridge Rd

Johnson’s General Store

Yes

1003 S Seneca St

Kwik Shop

No

2142 N Webb Rd

Kwik Shop

No

6327 E 13th St N

Noori Convenience Store

Yes

801 S. Oliver

Phillips 66

Yes

Hillside & Kellogg

Phillips 66 Food Mart

Yes

7101 E Lincoln St

Presto Phillips 66

Yes

1254 S. Tyler Rd.

QuikTrip

Yes

626 W. Arkansas

QuikTrip

Yes

2510 W. Pawnee

QuikTrip

Yes

324 S West St

Stop ‘n Shop

No

1826 W 13th St N

The legal conundrum

Kansas law does not require stores to card, and no federal law applies to e-cigarettes.

“Our understanding is that the FDA does not currently regulate e-cigarettes,” said Jeannine Koranda, spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Revenue, which oversees e-cigarette sales.

The FDA has proposed a new rule for e-cigarettes that is still under debate. It would require makers of e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco and other nicotine products to list the ingredients on the package, along with a warning label.

But groups like Tobacco Free Wichita want the FDA to go further, like banning e-cigarettes from using the candy and fruit flavorings that seem aimed at kids.

Tobacco Free Wichita is also working with the City of Wichita to add e-cigarette regulations to the local Youth Access Ordinance that now only applies to regular cigarettes.